Hello, Tori!
by Dawnmist of RiverClan
Summary: Tori's the best matchmaker in LA, but she may have bitten off more than she can chew when she wants to set herself up with Hollywood's big-time producer, Andre Harris. In one trip to New York, can Tori manage to pair up eight lovebirds with one stone? Based on the musical Hello, Dolly! Tandre/Bade/Cabbie/Trinjin.
1. Call on Tori

Call on Tori/I Put My Hand In

_I have always been a woman who arranges things..._

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><p>If Tori had foreseen all the snags in her plan, perhaps she never would have gone through with it. It was a long shot from the start, she knew that, and it required that she double-cross quite a few people. In the end though, she decided, it would be for the greater good of everybody.<p>

It all started when André Harris, world-famous movie producer, asked her to find him a new wife. This wasn't surprising—everybody knew that Tori Vega (born Levi) was the best matchmaker in Los Angeles—but Tori knew this particular arrangement was special. Whoever the second Mrs. Harris was, she'd likely have a good deal of power in Mr. Harris's decisions, or, in other words, influence in the world of movie making, Tori reflected. A former actress herself, Tori understood the importance of giving new writers, directors, and actors a chance. She wanted to find a woman who would make sure Mr. Harris would do this.

And then there was also his money. The second Mrs. Harris should also know how to handle a good deal of wealth responsibly; she should send it circulating among the people, rather than keeping it to herself.

All Mr. Harris really wanted, of course, was a woman to manage his household; he was a greedy man with little patience for social customs such as friendship and love.

Tori thought long and hard about where to find a woman that would meet all of her requirements. She then asked herself, where could she find a woman who would do _exactly _as she planned?

That's when it hit her. She would marry André Harris herself and use his wealth and power for the good of the people! That fact that he only wanted a home manager just made her job easier. All she had to do was set him up with a couple of women he was sure to reject, then show him her own management skills. Then he'd propose to her and _voila_, she could do even more good for the world.

It didn't take long, however, for her to hit the first flaw in her plan.

"Mrs. Vega!"

Tori turned around to see a tall, gangly young man with curly, light brown hair approaching.

"Mr. Van Cleef," Tori acknowledged him with a nod. Another client of hers, Sinjin Van Cleef. He had been the first to throw a monkey wrench into her plan by insisting she arrange his marriage with André Harris's niece, Trina. Being Tori, though, she managed to use this case to her advantage.

"Sorry I'm late, Mrs. Vega," he panted, attempting to catch his breath. "I came as fast as I could!"

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Van Cleef. We have plenty of time. Our flight doesn't leave for another hour."

"Really though, Mrs. Vega! I'm starting to have second thoughts about hiring you," Sinjin admitted crossly. "What kind of woman calls up a man at five in the morning and tells him to book a flight to New York that leaves in no less than two hours? I must have forgotten a thousand things packing… and you still haven't told my_ why _we're going to New York. I have a lot riding on just my faith in you! I don't have the sort of money to toss around for out-of-the-blue trips across the country."

"I know you don't, Mr. Van Cleef," Tori said with a nod. "And that's why Mr. Harris won't let you marry his niece."

Sinjin snorted. "He thinks she has to marry some big shot actor or director. Apparently someone who works on lighting and sets like me just isn't good enough!"

"Now, now, Mr. Van Cleef," Tori soothed. "By the time I'm finished, Mr. Harris will be more than willing to let you marry Trina, though he may be a little too preoccupied with his own wedding preparations to focus on yours. I happen to be engaged in finding him a suitable second wife right now, which is why I'm on my way to New York."

"I know all about it, Mrs. Vega!" Sinjin said impatiently. "Rumor has it he's going to propose to Jade West this very afternoon!"

"And that's why he's on his way to New York as well!" Tori explained. "That is where Mrs. West lives. And he's taking Trina with him, in hopes that she'll forget about you. That is why you and I have to show up there! Now, what you have to do is show Mr. Harris that you're financially independent—and that you have some performance talent. And I just so happen to know how you can knock out two birds with one stone. There's a restaurant in New York; it's called Nozu. Sushi and karaoke. They happen to be having a karaoke contest tonight. Grand prize is a gold cup and one grand, which should be sufficient to get you started, and you know Mr. Harris loves music…"

"I don't _sing_, Mrs. Vega," Sinjin reminded her.

"Then I'll teach you," Tori decided, handing him one of her cards.

"_Tori Vega_," Sinjin read. "_techies taught to sing_?"

"I don't deal in only matchmaking, Mr. Van Cleef!"

"That's all well and good," Sinjin sighed. "but surely a prize such as that requires one to enter ahead of time?"

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Tori told him. "I happen to be good friends with the head waiter, Erwin Sikowitz. Back when my late husband Ephraim Vega was alive, the two of us would go to Nozu every week. We actually won quite a few Karaoke Cups. I'll just give him a call. I'm sure I can get the two of you entered."

"Oh… very well," Sinjin said, finally realizing there was no getting out of it.

"Excellent, then that's settled," Tori said. "Now head through security, Mr. Van Cleef. You wouldn't want to miss your flight."

"Aren't you coming?" Sinjin asked.

"I most certainly am," Tori told him. "But as it happens, I have a few matters to discuss with Mr. André Harris first. And look, there he is now!" Tori said as she spotted a man come through the door. Two younger men trailed in behind him, dragging what she supposed was his luggage. "I'll catch up with you later, Mr. Van Cleef."

"Beck! Robbie! Hurry up!" André called to the young men stumbling behind him. "We haven't got all day. I've got a plane to catch!

"Remind me again why you're heading to New York this time?" Beck asked. André took so many business trips that it was hard for Beck to keep track of each one's purpose.

"And why do you need so much luggage?" Robbie asked, setting down the bags he was carrying.

"Well, first off, I'm going to march in the Fourteenth street parade. More importantly though, I'm going out to ask a certain woman to marry me. And, in honor of the occasion, I'm promoting you, Beck, to my first assistant."

Beck exchanged a confused look with Robbie. "Aren't I already your first assistant?"

"Right now you're a fool. Any more questions?" André snapped.

"No, sir!" said Beck and Robbie in unison.

"Congratulations, Mr. Harris!" Tori called, beginning to approach the trio.

"Mrs. Vega," Andre greeted curtly. "Go get me coffee," he ordered his assistants.

"Congratulations, Mr. Harris," Tori repeated, reaching forward to shake his hand. "Congratulations on your engagement to Mrs. West! All my congratulations and sympathy…"

"Well, we aren't engaged just yet. Wait, _sympathy_?"

"Did I say that out loud?" Tori asked. "Well, never mind that, I'm so happy for you! And for myself… I was having quite a hard time trying to find a suitor for her!"

"And why is that?" André asked suspiciously.

"Well, she has quite the personality," Tori said. "I'm sure you've noticed. She's very sarcastic and doesn't like many people."

"I have noticed that," André said grimly. Tori was actually rather surprised that this hadn't been an issue earlier; she was hoping Jade's personality would drive André away. Perhaps both were just too eager to get married, and were willing to put up with anyone.

"And then there are the rumors," Tori went on.

"Rumors? What rumors?" André asked, now intrigued.

"Oh, I really shouldn't say…" Tori sighed, knowing this would make André even more interested. "All the facts show that her first husband died naturally."

"Are you meaning to tell me that Mrs. West…?"

"Well, the two weren't known to get along," Tori told him. "But I'm not trying to suggest anything! It's just that his death was so sudden… and he died right after a special dinner she made for him. But, as I said, Mr. West passed naturally."

André scowled. "Look, Mrs. Vega, you introduced me to Mrs. West, and I'm inclined to believe you would have told me earlier if she was a murderer. I'm going through with this wedding!"

"Oh, alright," Tori said. She still wasn't concerned, because she was never caught without a plan C. "Then I'll just tell the other girl… the _heiress_… not to wait."

"Good. You do tha—hold on, did you say heiress?"

_I should have skipped straight to plan C before!_ Tori thought. _I should have known he'd always go for money._

"Yes, I believe that's what I said. But, you already have Mrs. West. I'm not too worried about her, though. She's a lovely girl. She'll find someone else."

"Now, hold on," André interrupted. "Perhaps I haven't given her a fair chance… what's her name?"

"Money," Tori answered. "Ernestina Money."

"Lovely name," André commented.

"Indeed," Tori agreed. "However, there's an issue. Miss Money will be in the Fourteenth Street Parade this afternoon. I'm afraid she just won't have the time to meet you today…"

"Now hold on, Mrs. Vega. I happen to be marching in that same parade myself."

"What a _coincidence!_" Tori gushed. "Well, you can meet her then."

"Alright," André agreed. "But I still intend on meeting up with Mrs. West today."

"Then we'd better go catch that plane!" Tori exclaimed. "It'll be leaving shortly."

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><p><strong>AN: So it's been about a year since I've written anything… this one is based on one of my favorite musicals, **_**Hello, Dolly! **_**I've tried to modernize it, since the actual thing takes place in the late 1800s, but you probably noticed I kept some old timey themes in. That's why they're calling each other Mr. and Mrs. all the time. Also, I'm trying to keep everyone as in-character as possible, but I had to alter a few personalities (especially André's). Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Sunday Clothes

Sunday Clothes/Ribbons Down My Back

_That Sunday shine is a certain sign that you feel as fine as you look!_

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><p>Beck and Robbie returned to where André had been standing before, only to see Tori Vega standing by herself—André was nowhere in sight.<p>

"Excuse me, Mrs. Vega?" Robbie said tentatively. "Do you happen to know where Mr. Harris has gone?"

"I do indeed!" Tori told him. "He's already heading through security. I'm afraid you've just missed him."

"Figures," Beck muttered. "It's just like him to ask us to go get him coffee, just to turn and leave without taking it!"

"Shouldn't you be heading for the plane too, Mrs. Vega?" Robbie asked.

"I should, Mr. Shapiro," Tori agreed. "Though I figured I'd better wait for the two of you and let you know that Mr. Harris is already on his way, as he seems to have forgotten." She paused and eyed the two young men thoughtfully. "You know," she added, "it's really a shame you two aren't coming with. You two would just _love _New York! You know… I just so happen to have two extra plane tickets on me!" She quickly produced two tickets from her oversized purse.

Beck doubted that Tori "just so happened" to have two tickets with her—that woman always had something up her sleeve.

"I wish we could come," he told her with a sad smile. "Mr. Harris isn't giving us any time off for his trip, though. We're supposed to stay at his office, answer his phone, go to incredibly boring meetings for him…"

"Well, that's unfortunate," Tori sighed. "I happen to know two young girls who I'm sure would just _love _to spend a night on the town with the two of you. Jade and Cat, such lovely young ladies… but if you can't make it, I understand." Tori was silent for a moment, then, "I suppose I'd better be off to catch that flight. I'll just leave these tickets with you in case you change your mind." With that, she turned and left.

"I can't believe it!" Robbie exclaimed. "Two free round-trip tickets to New York and we can't go! We're stuck in the office doing tedious chores that I'm sure Mr. Harris would never notice if we didn't do!"

"I can't remember the last time we had the weekend off," Beck told him with a scowl. "We get Sundays off only. Robbie, we took this job _five years ago_—well, three years for you—in order to make connections in Hollywood and start on our acting careers, but where has it gotten us? Nowhere! I just got promoted from first assistant to first assistant! If I'm good, maybe in another five years I'll be promoted to first assistant again. I'm twenty-seven years old and I only get one evening free per week! When can I start living?"

"You can live on holidays, Beck!" Robbie suggested meekly.

Beck sighed. "Have you forgotten last Christmas? We spent the entire day cleaning Mr. Harris's office. Do you call _that _living?"

"Well… no," Robbie admitted.

Beck sighed and took a sip of what was supposed to be André's coffee, which was now going cold. He turned to leave the airport, and Robbie began to follow.

Just as the automatic doors slid open for the two, Beck stopped abruptly, causing Robbie to smash into him.

"You know what, Robbie?" Beck said, turning around to face his coworker. "We're going to New York!"

"What?" Robbie froze in the middle of adjusting his glasses and stared at Beck in disbelief. "We can't do that! We have to stay here and do Mr. Harris's chores!"

"So he has a couple phone messages to listen to when he gets home. You said it yourself—he'd hardly notice if those chores didn't get done! We've got free tickets, so we're going to go to New York, Robbie, and we're going to live! We're going to have a good meal, we're going to be in danger, we're going to spend our money, we're going to get _arrested!_"

"Holy Cabooses!" Robbie exclaimed. "I don't know if I'm up for danger and getting arrested…"

"And one more thing!" Beck added, ignoring his friend. "We aren't coming back until we've each kissed a girl!"

Robbie looked as if he might faint on the spot. "But Beck, you can't do that! We don't know any girls!"

Beck smirked. "But we will, Rob. We will." He pulled out the plane tickets that Tori had given them and turned them over, revealing to Robbie some loopy writing which had been scrawled on the back: _Jade West and Cat Valentine's office_, followed by an address.

"Come on, Rob!" Beck begged. "I'm _twenty-seven_! I have to start living some time."

Robbie considered this. "I'm only twenty-five, Beck. It's not so urgent for me."

"But _think _about it, Robbie! The lights of Broadway! We could stay in a hotel on a floor say… seven stories high!"

"Seven stories?" Robbie asked, looking intrigued.

"_Seven stories!_" Beck assured him, though he knew a nice hotel room would be a stretch even if they pooled their savings. "So what do you say?"

"Yes, Beck, yes!"

"Then we'd better hurry, Robbie! The plane will be leaving soon!" He took off in a sprint.

Robbie took off after him. "But wait! What about luggage? We haven't packed anything!"

Beck didn't even slow down. "We're living dangerously this weekend, Rob! Don't worry about it!"

"But what about Mr. Harris?" Robbie called. "He'll be on the same plane!"

Beck skidded to a sudden halt, once again causing Robbie to crash into him. "I didn't think of that," he admitted.

"If he catches us, we will be in _so _much trouble!" Robbie reminded him. "I don't want to live _that _dangerously!"

Beck thought for a moment, then puffed out his chest. "You know what? Chances are he'll be in first class, already sleeping behind a book he's pretending to read. He probably won't see us, but even if he does, who cares if we get fired? We deserve a weekend off!"

/

It was nearly ten o'clock when Cat unlocked the doors to Jade West's office suite, which was unusual for the pair of them. Typically they started work at seven o'clock sharp, and Jade would arrive a half an hour before Cat. Today was somewhat of a special occasion, though: the two women were taking most of the day off in order to prepare for André Harris's visit. Even they knew that he was likely to propose to Jade that very day!

"I can't _believe_ that Mrs. West is getting married again!" Cat squealed to her stuffed purple giraffe as she stepped inside the office. "But you know, Mr. Purple," she told the stuffed animal thoughtfully, "I don't know that Mr. Harris could ever really take the place of Mr. Peter West. Did you know that Mrs. West's only met Mr. Harris a few times? And he lives in Hollywood! I don't know what will happen to our business here if she's moving…"

Cat sighed and set Mr. Purple on the desk. Jade wrote scripts for movies and plays, and she employed Cat as her assistant. Her job included anything from fetching Jade's coffee in the morning to helping Jade find a producer to put on her show to serving as a research assistant. So far they hadn't written anything big, but they were doing alright, and with each passing day their names became more and more well-known. Cat wasn't eager to start looking for a new job if Jade moved all the way to California.

"Anyway," Cat continued, "I don't even know why we came into work today at all! You and I both know that Jade doesn't know how to finish her latest story line; I can't believe she'd bother with that today, especially when she's already stressed and has enough on her mind with—"

Cat was cut off by a low growl behind her. "With _what_, Cat?"

The redhead slowly turned around to face her employer, Jade West, standing in the doorway. She had jet black hair with turquoise streaks, and by the way she was squeezing her coffee cup, Cat could tell that she must have heard quite a bit of her conversation with Mr. Purple.

"With, um, the window?" Cat suggested sheepishly. "It's stuck."

She rushed over to the window and made a scene, pretending that she could not open it.

Jade rolled her eyes. "It's stuck? Then push!"

Jade joined her at the window and they both gave a much greater heave than needed. The window opened easily and both girls lost their balance.

Cat knew she was probably already on Jade's bad side for the day, but she had to ask the question on her mind.

"Mrs. West…I already regret the things I've said this morning…"

"So you should!" Jade hissed.

"…and I'm sure I'll regret the things I'm going to say," Cat went on, "But I've gone this far already, and I might as well go all the way. Mrs. West, why… why…"

Her employer rolled her eyes. "Just say it, Cat! Why have I decided to marry André Harris?"

Cat widened her eyes in shock. "Oh, Mrs. West, you know I wouldn't dare ask you such a personal question!" Cat had known Jade ever since she started working for her, and though Cat considered she and Jade friends, she knew that Jade kept to herself and preferred to keep their relationship strictly business related. "But since you did bring it up…"

Jade sighed. "Cat, I am marrying André Harris for one reason: To get away from script writing!"

"What?" Cat couldn't mask her shock. Jade wrote wonderful scripts, and she had never expressed distaste for it before.

"It was always my dream to be an _actress_, Cat! Sure, I like writing scripts, but it just isn't what I want to do with my life. I could never make it in the acting business before, so I did what I could. But if I marry a producer like Mr. Harris… Well, things could open up for me!"

Cat frowned. This wasn't at all the answer she was looking for; perhaps it was too much to hope that Jade had found love and just wanted to ride off into the sunset with her new husband, but that was what she was hoping for anyhow.

"Mrs. West…" Cat said timidly. "I can't believe I'm about to ask you this question, but… I think I'll do it anyway!" She took a deep breath. "Do you love André Harris?"

Cat flinched, expecting Jade to lash out and maybe throw a stapler at her head—that once happened when Jade discovered Cat had accidentally given her decaf coffee—but to her surprise, Jade only continued to straighten papers on her desk.

"No, Cat, I don't. But that's alright. I loved Peter West, and I think once was enough for me. Now if you don't mind, Cat, I only ate a banana for breakfast this morning, so could you fetch me something from that vending machine down the hall?"

"Uh… sure," Cat said, still a little too shocked from Jade's lack of anger to fully process the request. She opened the door and had only taken one step out into the hall before rushing back inside and slamming the door behind her.

"For goodness sakes, Cat!" Jade exclaimed with exasperation. "What on earth is going on?"

"Two men!" Cat panted. "There are two men heading down the hall. I heard them say they were looking for office 246!"

Jade furrowed her brow. "That's us."

Cat nodded.

"Funny…" Jade said thoughtfully. "We weren't expecting anyone today."

"I know!" Cat squeaked. "You know we don't have time to deal with them today."

Without saying anything, Jade pushed past Cat to look through the eyehole on their door. Just as Cat had told her, two men stood outside staring at the door. They were both tall and thin. The one who was slightly taller had fluffy brown hair, and the other one had a messy curly afro and large glasses.

"I do believe they mean to come in here!" Jade said, surprised.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Cat asked.

Jade smirked. "Flirt with them of course! I'll let you have the one with the afro."

Cat's head was spinning; she'd had enough surprises for one day. "Now hold on, Mrs. West! Weren't you just talking about how falling in love once was enough?"

Jade shook her head. "It's not love I'm looking for, Cat! It's an adventure. We'll make it look like we're interested, then just turn and leave! Seeing the looks on their faces will be such fun…" An evil smile crept across her face.

Cat shook her head. Jade certainly had an interesting definition of "fun." But if Jade had an evil plan, Cat did not want to be the one to get in her way.

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><p><strong>So here's chapter two. Sorry these chapters are so short! <strong>

**In the next chapter, Beck and Robbie meet Cat and Jade.**

**If you liked it, please review! Thanks to Sick Popsicles and LamarLaver for reviewing the last chapter. **


	3. New York

New York

"_Cornelius, are you sure this is an adventure?"_

"_You don't have to ask, Barnaby. When you're in one you'll know it, all right!"_

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><p>So far, the trip had gone well for Beck and Robbie. They had managed to slip onto the plane without André catching them. As Beck predicted, he had been wrapped up in a novel and hadn't so much as glanced up when his assistants scrambled down the aisle to reach their seats in the back.<p>

"Well, Robbie," Beck said, glancing at the card Tori had given them, then looking back up to check that it matched the building they stood in front of, "this is it. According to Mrs. Vega, there are two women in there who would enjoy spending the evening with us." He took a deep breath, then took a step forward. "Let's head in."

Robbie grabbed him by the arm just before he could grasp the door handle. "Hold on, Beck!" he said, pulling his friend back. "I don't know if this is such a good idea. Just going up into the office of two random women and asking them out? We know _nothing_ about them! Do you even remember their names?"

Beck cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Um… no?"

"Exactly!" Robbie chided. "They could be murderers!"

"But Mrs. Vega's a matchmaker, Robbie!" Beck reminded him. "These could be two of her clients who she just thought we'd get on well with. And you know, she only sets up the most respectable of people."

"Well, she's setting up us right now!" Robbie retorted. "You know we aren't the most respected or classiest people around."

Beck couldn't argue with that.

"And besides," Robbie went on, "like you said, they could be two clients of hers, but would she really be willing to buy us plane tickets just for some clients? How do we know they aren't awful women who she's just having a hard time unloading, so she's trying to get us stuckwith them?"

"Robbie, if there's going to be anyone feeling _stuck _on this date, it's going to be that girl who ends up with y—" Beck stopped short. "Never mind, Robbie, the decision's made, we're going in!" he said quickly. He grabbed Robbie by the arm and dragged him to the door.

"What? But I still had a few good points to bring up for my argument!" Robbie claimed.

"Well, I have _one _argument for going in that will trump _anything_ you have to say!" Beck hissed, pulling Robbie into the doorway. "Just take a look at that park bench."

Robbie peered around the corner and looked in the direction Beck was pointing. On the bench, there was a figure sitting with his back to him, but it was still unmistakable who it was: André Harris.

Robbie gasped. "That's Mr. Harris! If he sees us here, we're toast!"

"I know!" Beck whispered. "That's why we're going inside."

"Okay," Robbie agreed.

The pair made their way up the steps until they came to the office that Tori had directed them to. The name cards on the door read "Jade West and Cat Valentine."

"Jade West," Beck said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Does that name sound familiar to you, Rob?"

"Jade West?" Robbie repeated. "Yeah, kind of. But Mrs. Vega said she writes scripts, right? Maybe Mr. Harris was considering producing one of her shows, and that's where we heard the name."

Beck took a deep breath and positioned his hand, ready to knock. Then he drew back.

"Robbie," he said, "how much money do we have?"

Robbie pulled out his wallet and did a quick count. "After paying for the hotel room… only twenty dollars for dinner."

Beck frowned. He and Robbie were far from rich, but he had hoped they'd have a little more with them. The hotel certainly cost a lot as well. He sighed. "Nothing even for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Already looked into it," Robbie said. "They have a complimentary breakfast!"

"We should have brought more," Beck muttered.

"Well," Robbie said, "I only brought as much as I thought we would absolutely need. The hotel cost quite a bit, and I thought as long as we're risking our jobs on this trip, we shouldn't risk our savings, too. Why do you suddenly want to know how much we've got?"

"When we go in," Beck explained, "I was thinking we should pretend to be customers. We can pretend to be rich, say that we're thinking about producing one of her shows." He knocked on the door.

A woman with black hair and a gaze that could turn someone to stone answered the door. Robbie let out a frightened squeak and hid behind Beck, who had always been far more confident than his friend.

Beck smiled. "Um, hello there, Miss…?"

"West," the woman said.

"Well, allow us to introduce ourselves. I'm Beck Oliver, and this is…"

Robbie let out a small whisper which could have been his name, but was too quiet to be heard.

"um, this is Robert Shapiro," Beck finished.

Jade West didn't bother with any pleasantries such as, "pleased to meet you," or "please, come in, gentlemen." She simply said "hmph," and whisked inside, leaving the door open. Beck and Robbie glanced at each other uncertainly for a moment before deciding to take this as an invitation, and walked in.

"I thought there were two!" Robbie whispered to Beck.

"So did I," Beck told him. They both looked around—there was no other girl in sight.

"Well," Robbie said quietly, "You feel free to take this one; she scares me! I'll take my chances and hope the other one's nicer."

"So what do you want?" Jade asked finally.

Robbie tried to recover from his earlier slip-up by answering the question. "Well, we're two scripts you see and we're just in ladies to come get a few New Yorks—"

"What he means to say," Beck interrupted, "is that we've come from Los Angles looking to produce a play. And everyone said go to Miss West because she's so pretty… I mean, her _plays _are lovely."

"Actually, Mr. Oliver, it's _Misses _West," Jade corrected him.

"Oh! Er… I mean… _oh_," Beck said, trying to cover his shock and disappointment.

"I'm a widow," Jade told him.

"Oh! You're a _widow_!" Beck said joyfully. "I mean, I'm sorry to hear that," Beck corrected himself.

"Did you say you're from Los Angles?" Jade asked.

"Yes," Beck said. "Have you ever been? It's a wonderful town."

"No, actually, I haven't."

"Well, if you should ever find yourself in Los Angeles with an afternoon free, I'd love to show you around," Beck told her.

"Well, actually, Mr. Oliver, I may be there sooner than you'd think."

"Oh?" Beck said, raising his eyebrows.

Jade nodded. "I have a friend who lives in Los Angles. Maybe you know him."

"Maybe we do," Beck said, though seriously doubting it as he and Robbie knew very few people.

"It's a Mr. Harris," Jade said.

Beck and Robbie both froze and stared at her in shock.

"Mr. _André _Harris?" Beck said finally.

"The producer?" Robbie added.

Jade turned slightly pale. "Oh… then you do know him."

_I can't be flirting with friends of my future husband…! _Jade thought. _He's not supposed to know about this…_

"Yes, lovely man…" Beck said. "He's just kind of, uh… harsh…"

Robbie rubbed his head uncomfortably. If André heard about this…

_André_! Robbie suddenly recalled that his boss was sitting on the bench outside. What if, by some incredibly unlucky chance, he was sitting outside of Jade's office intending to come in and talk to her?

He scrambled over to the window just in time to see André making his way over to the building.

Robbie gasped and dashed over to the cupboard. "Beck!" he called as he stepped into the cupboard. He pointed to the window. Beck turned totally white when he looked out of it.

"Excuse us, Mrs. West!" Beck said as he leapt into the cupboard with Robbie.

"What on earth are you doing?" Jade asked, bewildered.

"Just hide us, Mrs. West! We'll explain later!" Beck said. "I promise we're innocent."

"You'd better come out of there right this _instant _or I'll be forced to—" Jade was cut off by the sound of an opening door.

André had just stepped into the room.

"Oh!" Jade said. "Mr. Harris…"

"Mrs. West," he greeted her. "Mrs. Vega isn't here, is she? She said she would meet me on that bench outside ten minutes ago. When I make an appointment I expect people to be on time." He then set a small box on her desk. "Here. I bought you some chocolates. The expensive kind." He paused. "By the way, I was looking up into the window, and I thought I saw you talking to two men."

Beck and Robbie held their breaths in the cupboard; was Jade going to cover for them?

"Men?" they heard Jade say finally, feigning surprise. "No, I'm afraid we've had no business today. Now you must come back into our back room where we keep the paper copies; Cat's back there now, and I'm dying for you to see it…"

"I saw it when I was here last week," André reminded her.

"Oh… yes, of course," Jade said. "So how is your business running?"

"My business? Why are you suddenly interested?"

"Well, I always like to hear about Los Angeles," Jade invented.

André raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

"Yes," Jade said. "I hear it's a lovely city."

This only made André more suspicious. "Oh? And who, may I ask, has been telling you about Los Angeles?"

"Oh, just a friend," Jade said.

"What friend?" André demanded.

"Yes. You see, he—"

"_He_?"

"Well, he's not really a friend… more like a customer," Jade told him. "He was in here earlier in search of a script. I believe he's quite well-to-do, actually… perhaps you know him? A Mr. Beck Oliver?"

In the closet, Beck and Robbie flinched. They heard the door to the office open.

"_Oliver_?" André scoffed. "Beck Oliver? He happens to be my assistant… and that's all! The only reason he'd be buying a script would be if _I _sent him to come pick it up for me! That ma n doesn't have nearly enough money to buy one of your scripts, let alone produce a play! Why on earth was he in this office?"

"Why shouldn't he have been?" A new voice asked.

_Mrs. Vega! _Robbie and Beck mouthed to each other.

"_Everyone _in New York _and_ Los Angles knows Beck Oliver! You know," she said, turning to a very confused Jade, "he's a big up-and-coming actor in Hollywood. All the producers and directors are just raving about him!"

"He is my _assistant_!" André growled.

"Oh, well, maybe on the side, Mr. Harris, but if you'd pay attention, you'd see that he's spending all of his spare time in auditions, and no one can seem to get enough of him. Only reason you haven't seen him in a film yet is that he has so many job offers, he can't decide which one to take!"

Robbie was staring at Beck in bewilderment. Beck just shrugged. Why was Tori lying for him like this?

"Well, I'm one of the best producers in Hollywood, Mrs. Vega," André reminded her, "and I haven't heard any of this!"

"Of course, he wouldn't dare audition for any of your productions. He probably knows you'd shoot him down without a second thought," Tori explained. "But other directors, other producers… the true visionaries, I mean… they see his potential. He's talented, and handsome, not to mention a true gentleman—exactly the kind of person they want on the big screen! All the ladies will love him, isn't that right, Jade?"

Jade glanced at her future fiancée, who was staring at her through narrow, suspicious eyes, and then back at Tori. Jade West was almost never at a loss for words, but she had to admit that she was having trouble keeping up with the conversation. Who _was _this man who had entered her office? And answering this question would be dangerous—if she said no, she'd make Tori's story seem false, which would make André once again suspicious of what Beck was doing in her office. On the other hand, if she seemed too fond of the young actor, this might make her seem disloyal to André (which, of course, she was—but he didn't need to know that.)

Finally Jade cleared her throat. "Well," she said cautiously, "I hardly think I can make that judgment, Tori…"

Tori just gave her a knowing look. "Now, now, Jade, don't deny it! I can see you were taken with him just like everybody else… maybe a little bit more so than everybody else!"

Now André was beginning to fume.

"Tori! What are you talking about?" Jade spat. "I've only met him once in my life, how could you _possibly _suggest—"

Jade was cut off as Cat entered from the back room, oblivious to the tension, and made her way across the office. "Oh, hello!" she chirped. "So nice to see you again Mr. Harris, and Mrs. Vega! I'll be out of your hair in just a second; I only need some printer paper."

She began to make her way toward the cabinet where Beck and Robbie were hiding. They exchanged a panicked glance.

"'Out of your hair!' Isn't that a funny saying?" Cat giggled as she opened the cabinet door.

Robbie quickly grabbed a large stack of printer paper and handed it to Cat.

"Thank you!" she said, taking the stack of paper and shutting the door.

Beck and Robbie breathed a sigh of relief. Only Cat had seen them, and she didn't seem to think much of it.

Cat had her hand on the handle of the door to the back room when she screamed.

"Cat, what is it?" Jade growled. "Can you not see we're in the middle of a conversation here?" she said, raising her voice and gesturing to André and Tori.

"But Mrs. West!" Cat squeaked. "There are _men_ in that closet!"

Jade and Tori both opened their mouths in an attempt to come up with an explanation, but André spoke first.

"If there's a man in that closet…" he growled. He began to make his way toward the cupboard, but Tori jumped in front of it before he could reach it.

"No, Mr. Harris, you can't!" Tori said. "It's too dangerous!"

Jade stared in shock. Tori didn't know anything about Beck and Robbie being in the closet, as far as she knew, but she was defending Jade anyway. Was she just that committed to saving Jade and André's relationship?

_No, _Jade thought. _That couldn't be! She just suggested that I might be more interested in Mr. Oliver than Mr. Harris, and that was less than helpful!_

"Stand aside, Mrs. Vega!" André demanded. "I'm not scared of any creeps that hide in closets. I'm going to open that door and find out what's going on here once and for all!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Typically I name each chapter after the songs in the musical that match up with the events in my story, but this part didn't cover any songs, so I made up the title. That's why it's boring.<strong>

**Thanks to xxBadeRomancexx, Bade brazil, YouCan'tControlMe, LamarLaver, Lesbiwriting, KittieKat121, and a guest for reviewing the last chapter!**


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